Since the last blog I have engaged in a situation that some of you are familiar with, so I will briefly explain for the benefit of you folks who don't know. Toward the end of August my mother had an accident which resulted in a broken neck (c-2 vertebrae) and bleeding on the brain. Excellent medical care stopped the hemorrhage without surgery. A staph infection set up in her lungs requiring a tracheostomy in her throat and subsequent attached to a ventilator to manage her breathing. She has not spoken a word since September 6. The days have been split 50/50 between good days and bad. That has demanded my attention daily for over a month. I do appreciate the encouragement and prayers that you folks have offered. They help , they really do. Thank you.-The 2 gray screech owls, seen in an earlier blog, have been released. They have been sighted a number of times in their new location. -Spanky, the juvenile turkey vulture, has been released.-3 juvenile Red Shoulder Hawks have been released.-Mikey and his gang are headed for release. 3 Great Horned Owls at once. Whoa little rodents your nights are going to get wild.There are others still in progress.In the category of very unusual...........This Redtail Hawk, a very big female, was under one of the plant tables enjoying a meal. For those of you who are familiar with the plant tables under the Magnolia tree you should recognize the location. I was about 3 feet away taking pictures. She was undetered by the camera while I was detered by her size.For reference purposes the space between the black shelves is about 28 inches.

This is a big ole' gal. Homey was not going to mess with her, especially when I realized her dinner was a mature Red Shoulder Hawk. The Red Tail Hawk was not one of our releases, nor was the Red Shoulder Hawk. She finally got tired of me with my camera and took of with the remains of her dinner in tow. This RT was born in 2010 as she has brown tail feathers with red ones coming in.Our flight pens are a continual ongoing maintenance activity. Since pressure treated wood is toxic to raptors we have to use untreated wood. The untreated wwood is at the mercy of the elements; heat, cold and rain. Construction Consultants of Macon, Ga. have stepped in and designed new flight pens for Bubba and Friends. They have donated the blue prints and the design. THe new flight pen will incorporate an outer shell of the new pressure treated (non toxic) lumber with an inner frame of untreated lumber. Inner walls can be hinged like doors to allow expansion space when necessary. We have had approximately $3500 dollars worth of untreated lumber donated as well as telephone pole (from Central Ga. EMC) for the post. We are now trying to raise $2000.00 to purchase the non toxic pressure treated lumber. We want to get it in before winter sets in.Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Deal,Mr. and Mrs. Paul, Mr. and Mrs. Nowell, and Mr. and Mrs. Benson for your donations, you have given us a start.Have gotten some phone calls about problems that I refused to deal with! I rehab raptors I don't do skunks! Our little black and white friends seem to be on the increase around here. Why the calls are directed here is confusing to me. Homey ain't coming to get them. It's nothing personal against skunks but I have nowhere to release them and I don't care for the smell( I have received their blessings once already!). Have several emails about the turbine windmills, the renewable wind energy of the future, killing thousands of raptors including Bald and Golden eagles. After a little perusal of the web I found one very good write up at The New American website. The article is titled "Turbines killing birds,bats". It's a very interesting read. After years of the endangered species act and millions of taxpayer dollars spent to protect our native species they are being slaughtered by giant windmills that produce a very small amount of energy. I encourage you to go to The New American website and read the article. It's unreal. Will be back again with more detailed update. Need to get some more pictures to post. Oh yea Meatloaf seems to be over his physical issues. I am not sure if he was"sick", those of you who know Meatloaf understand. Anyway he is about his usual self again.Later...